1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a kitchen appliance for use in connection with peeling plantains. The plantain peeler has particular utility in connection with easily and efficiently removing the rough exterior from plantains.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plantains are a highly nutritious vegetable and are used as a staple food in many tropical countries. The vegetable is used similarly to the way potatoes are used as a staple in some diets and can be substituted in recipes calling for starchy vegetables like potatoes. Plantains can be added to soups and stews, boiled and mashed, baked with meat, or added to sweet desserts. The plantain can also be used at all stages of ripeness, making it a highly versatile and cost efficient addition to the dietary intake.
In order to reach the meat of the plantain, the user typically cuts off the top and bottom ends with a sharp knife. With the tip of the knife, the user then makes a slit in the skin of the plantain from top to bottom and works the peel away from the inner substance. Less ripe plantains have tough skins that must be cut with a sharp knife in order to peel the fruit. The banana shape of the plantain is awkward to peel with a knife and can be time consuming and lead to cuts on the fingers or hands if the knife slips. Additionally, if excessive pressure is applied to the plantain while holding it steady for peeling, the edible portion can become bruised. Therefore, a device which would remove the peel from the plantain without bruising its edible portion would represent a more efficient and safer method for peeling plantains. In establishments where large numbers of plantains are peeled, this type of device could also lead to a more cost efficient use of labor.
The use of vegetable and fruit peelers is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,670 B1 to Michael Gingras discloses an apparatus for peeling and optionally cutting vegetables such a cucumbers, turnips, carrots, or potatoes. The apparatus has a frame defining a hole sized to receive and let pass the vegetable to be peeled and a given number of knives mounted in such a manner as to be radially slideable toward the center of the hole. Springs are provided which apply a radial force toward the center and hold the knives in a desired position for peeling all sides of the vegetables at once. However, the Gingras ""670 B1 patent does not provide a refuse tray for collection and easy disposal of peels, thus the peels would be free to fall on the countertop, table, or floor, causing additional cleanup for the user. Furthermore, the Gingras ""670 B1 device requires the user to manually push the vegetable through the opening and retrieve it from the back of the device. Many vegetables are slippery, especially as they are peeled, and would require a tight grip for this process to be accomplished. The user could inadvertently cut his fingers or severely bruise the vegetable while retrieving it from the back of the Gingras ""670 B1 device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,735 to Jose P. Gonzalvo discloses a machine for peeling oranges and similar fruits that consists of a chassis with arms for holding and turning the fruit and a cutting mechanism for peeling the fruit. The fruit is positioned on the arms and is subsequently rotated against the cutting mechanism. However, the Gonzalvo ""735 patent is only useful for globular fruits and vegetables, and would not be suitable for elongated varieties due to the positioning of the blades and the arms of the device. Furthermore, the spikes with which the Gonzalvo ""735 device secures the fruit would damage the pulp of softer fruits like bananas. Finally, the Gonzalvo ""735 patent does not provide a container in which peels are collected, resulting in additional clean up time for the user.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,195 to James A. Berube and W. Garrett Howard discloses a fruit peeling machine that cuts strips of peel from citrus fruits, particularly for the purpose of producing twists from such fruits as lemons and limes. Cutting edges are arrayed such that the fruit can be forced downward by a plunger and the lower hemisphere of the fruit is peeled. However, the Berube, et al. ""195 device requires the user to pass the fruit through the cutting array twice before it is fully peeled. Additionally, the plunger of the Berube, et al. ""195 device places pressure upon the fruit to force it through the cutting edges and would mash fruits or vegetables having a soft pulp, such as bananas or avocadoes. Finally, the Berube, et al. ""195 device would not cut the ends of the rind from fruits and vegetables, requiring manual intervention by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,396,444 to Henry Singer discloses a device for peeling citrus fruit wherein the blade and knife elements function to slice and then peel away the rind of the fruit. The ends of the fruit are first sliced off to provide a level surface, the fruit is then impaled on a post, and the knives subsequently slice and peel the fruit. However, the Singer ""444 device still requires the user to manually slice off the ends of the fruit. Given the globular nature of citrus fruit, this presents a safety hazard to the user. Additionally, since the fruit must be impaled on a rod, the Singer ""444 device would not be useful for arcuate items, such as plantains, since the rod would not successfully pierce both ends. Finally, the Singer ""444 device would not be useful for peeling fruits that are easily malleable since impaling them on a rod would cause them to break into two or more pieces.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. Des.435, 404 to Michel Gingras and Mario Primeau discloses the ornamental design for a vegetable peeling apparatus. The apparatus has a frame defining a hole sized to receive and let pass the vegetable to be peeled and a given number of knives mounted in a horizontal fashion above and below the opening through which the vegetable passes and by which the peel of the vegetable will be scraped away. However, the Gingras, et al. ""404 patent fails to provide a refuse tray for collection and easy disposal of peels, thus the peels would be free to fall on the countertop, table, or floor, causing additional cleanup for the user. Furthermore, the Gingras, et al. ""404 device requires the user to manually push the vegetable through the opening and retrieve it from the back of the device. Many vegetables are slippery, especially as they are peeled, and would require a tight grip for this process to be accomplished. The user could inadvertently cut his fingers or severely bruise the vegetable while retrieving it from the back of the Gingras, et al. ""404 device.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,782 to Leslie Black discloses a banana peeling machine in which the skin of a banana is engaged by impinging spikes on the periphery of three resiliently supported rotatable wheels with separating and cutting means to assist in the skin being pulled away from the banana. However, the Black ""782 patent fails to provide any type of housing or covering for the spikes and blades employed by the device. This creates a safety hazard for the user who could cut his hand, finger, or arm during operation of the device. Storing the Black ""782 device on the countertop might tempt children to play with it, possibly leading to subsequent injuries, and storing the device in a cabinet could result in cuts on the hand or fingers when the user reached for the device or any item near it. Finally, the Black ""782 patent fails to provide a refuse collection container, leaving the banana peels free to fall on the floor, the table, or the cabinet and causing an excessive amount of cleaning for the user.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a plantain peeler that allows the user to easily and safely remove the rough exterior from a plantain. The Gingras ""670 B1, Gonzalvo ""735, Gingras, et al. ""404, and Black ""782 patents do not provide a refuse tray for collection and easy disposal of peels, thus the peels would be free to fall on the countertop, table, or floor, causing additional cleanup for the user. Furthermore, use of the Gingras ""670 B1, Gingras, et al. ""404, and Black ""782 devices could result in injury to the user. The Gingras ""670 B1 and Gingras, et al. ""404 devices require the user to manually push the vegetable through the opening and retrieve it from the back of the device. Due to the slippery nature of many peeled vegetables and fruit, the user could inadvertently cut his fingers while gripping the food item tightly enough to retrieve it from the device. Moreover, the vegetable could be severely bruised from the amount of pressure applied to the vegetable while using the Gingras ""670 B1 and Gingras, et al. ""404 devices. The Black ""782 patent fails to provide any type of housing or covering for the spikes and blades employed by the device. This creates a safety hazard for the user who could cut his hand, finger, or arm during operation of the device, for the curious child who is tempted to play with the device, or to the owner who reaches into a cabinet in which the device is stored. The Gonzalvo ""735 device is only useful for globular fruits and vegetables, and would not be suitable for elongated varieties due to the positioning of the blades and the arms of the device. Additionally, the Gonzalvo ""735, Berube, et al. ""195, and the Singer ""444 devices would not be suitable for peeling fruits or vegetables with a soft pulp, such as bananas or avocadoes. The spikes with which the Gonzalvo ""735 device secures the fruit would damage the pulp of softer fruits, while the pressure placed on the fruit by the plunger of the Berube, et al. ""195 device would mash fruits or vegetables having a soft pulp. In addition, impaling the fruit on the rod of the Singer ""444 device would cause it to split into parts. Furthermore, since the fruit must be impaled on a rod, the Singer ""444 device would not be useful for arcuate items, such as plantains, since the rod would not successfully pierce both ends. Neither the Berube, et al. ""195 nor Singer ""444 devices are capable of cutting the ends of the rind from the fruits and require the manual interaction of the user to perform this task. Finally, the Berube, et al. ""195 device requires the user to pass the fruit through the cutting array twice before it is fully peeled.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved plantain peeler that can be used for easily and safely removing the skin from a plantain without bruising the fruit in the process. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the plantain peeler according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of easily and safely removing the peel from the plantain without bruising its edible portion.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of fruit and vegetable peelers now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved plantain peeler, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved plantain peeler and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a plantain peeler which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a housing including a discard tray, a slicing mechanism with four semicircular cutting blades driven by a piston rod attached to a guide ring, and a peeling mechanism with four arcuate blades arranged in a circle whose dimensions expand and contract through the use of four tension springs on the arcuate blades.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved plantain peeler that has all of the advantages of the prior art fruit and vegetable peelers and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved plantain peeler that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved plantain peeler that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a plantain peeler economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new plantain peeler that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a plantain peeler for quickly removing the peel from a plantain. This allows the user to speed the process of peeling multiple plantains, saving time and making the cooking experience more enjoyable.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a plantain peeler which does not require the user to slice the thick skin of the plantain with a sharp knife. This allows the user to remove the peel from the plantain while eliminating the possibility of the user cutting his hand or fingers on a sharp knife blade.
Even yet another object of the present invention is to provide a plantain peeler which improves the efficiency of removing a peel from a plantain. This allows the user to save considerable time and labor when peeling multiple plantains, especially when preparing plantains for a large group or in a commercial establishment.
Still yet another object of the plantain peeler is to provide a plantain peeler with a splashguard surrounding the peeling mechanism. This restricts juices and small portions of the peel or plantain from entering the device, making cleaning of the device easier and less time consuming.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved plantain peeler that has a discard tray for the peel of the plantain. This provides a convenient bin into which the peel falls as it is forced from the plantain, speeding the clean up process by eliminating the need to wash sticky residue from the counter, table, floor, or other area where a peel could normally fall.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.